Along with MLCC and in order to avoid aging and DC bias, a designer must consider using KEMET’s polymer capacitor KO-CAPs®. A typical construction detail of a KO-CAP is shown here. Tantalum polymer capacitors have a tantalum pentoxide dielectric with a polymer cathode. This polymer material can actually consume oxygen and makes it nonconductive, which is what differentiates polymer from the traditional tantalum capacitors. Since most applications do require long-term reliability, KEMET recommends that designers consider a voltage derating, as shown in the graph here, for the maximum steady state voltage. The biggest advantage of this capacitor technology is the ability to pack a lot of storage into a small package. While the ESR might not be as low as an MLCC, it still has a low ESR. These devices are mostly used in under 1 MHz frequency range without self resonance effects.